Kim Cattrall is staging a return to her first love

by BAZ BAMIGBOYE, Daily Mail

Last updated at 16:48 14 July 2006

Luckily Sex And The City gave Kim Cattrall a little nest-egg to fall back on in times of need.

One of those times will be this autumn, when she returns to the London stage in a new production of The Cryptogram. David Mamet’s sorrowful play about betrayal and emotional abuse will run at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre, Covent garden, from October 12.

The Donmar pays Equity rates of around £400 a week, which won’t for a minute cover the actress’s accommodation and other living costs.

‘I guess I’m going to have to have a lot of home cooked meals,’ Kim joked, adding that she’s hoping to stay with a friend during the run, as she’s not a big fan of hotels.

She acknowledged that because of her long stint playing temptress Samantha Jones in Sex And The City she has been able to pick and choose projects and, if truth be told, theatre has always been her first love.

‘I say to myself: “What am I playing it safe for?”,’ she told me. ‘I’ve been fortunate enough to be financially successful so I can take some time away from sure things and still pay my mortgage.’

Kim spent years treading the boards in Canada, where she was raised after her family moved there from England, and for many years she moved effortlessly between stage and screen — until Sex And The City reeled her in.

Her theatre training, she said, helped her play Samantha. ‘Oh, my god, you don’t pull timing like that out of your hat.’

Last year, she starred in Whose Life Is It Anyway? in London. And after finishing a film in Dublin with director John Boorman (A Tiger’s Tale) she was keen to come back for more.

Donmar Theatre artistic director Michael Grandage ran into Kim at a performance of Evita, which he directed, and soon set up a meeting for her and The Cryptogram director Josie Rourke.

Rehearsals will begin at the end of August.

While she’s here, Kim can also prepare to launch her book Being A Girl, about the ups and downs of teen life, which is being published in September.

‘I get a lot of fan mail, plus emails on my web site,’ Kim said. ‘A lot are from girls and they want to emulate Samantha.’ She paused for a moment, thought about what she’d just said, and roared with laughter. ‘A lot of that can be dangerous I think,’ she sputtered.

In the book, Kim talks about her own teenage years; how she coped with her parents’ divorce, and things she picked up along the way ‘about being a woman’.

She thinks a lot of teenage angst stems from the question of self-esteem, or lack thereof. ‘I think it’s a huge issue for for young men as well as young women.’

And she lamented our current obsession with being super slim. ‘Marilyn Monroe was the last of the voluptuous women. If you saw a woman like that now they'd say: “Oh my god, she’s so fat!” That’s how it has become, and that’s a shame.’

The important thing, she said, was to be happy in your own skin. ‘If your vision of beauty doesn’t include you, then you’ve got some serious work to do. Who are you trying to be like? What’s that about?’

We got to chatting about how famous women are constantly being judged on their looks, and found wanting. We talked about Keira Knightley, and the fact that movie executives in America saw fit to digitally enhance her breasts for a film poster.

Kim paused. ‘My God, what we women have to endure. Do men have to do that stuff? Do men ever have to be “enhanced’ on a magzine cover or a film poster? Come on — they wouldn’t dare!’